Trending Now

You are here

Drop, swap set

No longer wanted or needed items can be “dropped” or “swapped” during the annual Drop and Swap to be held May 11.
The event, which is being held in conjunction with Auglaize County Household Hazardous Waste Day, is planned from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Public Works Department, 110 E. Harrison St., Wapakoneta. Most items may be disposed of for free.
A free shopping day, for the items left the day before, is planned from noon to 2 p.m. May 12. Any item left may be taken.
Those wanting to get rid of unused items do not have to swap with others, they can simply leave their items at the drop off for someone else to take, Auglaize County Solid Waste Coordinator Dave Reichelderfer explained.
He said special arrangements have been made for this day only to recycle certain household hazardous waste and avoid unnecessary disposal at the landfill.
Items to be accepted include reusable household goods, furniture, bicycles, lawn and garden equipment, tools and other functional items, and electronics, other than nonworking TVs. Also to be accepted are shoes, tied together in pairs, but no rubber boots and no heels higher than two inches, and computer parts and old cell phones, all of which also are accepted every Saturday at the Auglaize County Recycling Center.
A variety of types of batteries are being accepted for recycling, including household, cell, button type, and auto batteries. Batteries with lead, mercury, nickel cadmium, and zinc all are to be accepted.
Chemicals, herbicides, cleaners and pesticides are to be taken this day only.
Used carpeting and any unsalvageable, non-functioning equipment will not be taken during the Drop and Swap event, neither will mattresses and box springs.
Appliances with freon, old tires and dead batteries will be accepted, although there is to be a fee for some materials. A $15 fee is to be charged for refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and dehumidifiers to pay for freon disposal. Only cash is accepted.
Other appliances accepted include water coolers, washers, dryers, stoves, microwave ovens, trash compactors, water heaters, furnaces, humidifiers, dishwashers, garbage disposals, and automatic garage door mechanisms.
“We still take the appliances, although we don’t end up with many,” Reichelderfer said. “The metal recyclers tend to take them while they wait in line, before they even get to us.”
For the first time, there is to be no fee for passenger, agricultural and truck tires off the rim, although tires will not be accepted from commercial dealers.
Reichelderfer said in the past the charge per tire was $2, but they are using the remains of an $8,800 grant received last year from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to cover the cost. Another free tire collection was held last fall using a portion of the grant.
Starting April 1, the Auglaize County Recycling Center also began accepting latex paint during any manned Saturday drop-offs for free, while there is a $1 per gallon and 50 cents per quart or smaller charge for the paint during the Drop and Swap event.
Only aerosol and household paint is to be accepted, no commercial or industrial paint, and paint must be in its original container for quick identification. Partial cans may be combined by pouring them together.
To be recycled, the paint, should be in liquid form, otherwise, dry and hard paint can be disposed of safely in regular household trash, Reichelderfer said.
The paint is used by an Ohio company — American Paint Recyclers — to make white, tan and gray recycled paint and sold in five-gallon buckets, a business particularly helpful to landlords.
Offered free to those wanting it during the event is junk metal — aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, iron, lead and steel (once webbing is removed from lawn chairs) — and non-freon appliances — stoves, washers and dryers.